The Colorado Economic Development Commission on Thursday agreed to provide the City of Aurora more time to rework plans for a 1,500-room convention hotel south of Denver International Airport.

The city will have until the commission’s meeting in late January to show it is making progress on the project, initiated by Gaylord Entertainment. If not, it could lose out on $81.4 million in state tax incentives it received in May under the Regional Tourism Act.

“We are asking for your help,” said Aurora City Manager Skip Noe.

The city’s plans were dealt a blow in late May when Gaylord announced a corporate restructuring that would prevent it from developing the $824 million hotel and conference center project as planned.

Gaylord has hired an outside firm to help find a developer who can arrange financing and build the mega-hotel, Noe said. The city wants to stay as close in scope as possible to the original proposal, he said.

Material revisions would likely result in the city having to reapply for a new award during a second round of RTA applications coming up this fall, board members said.

“I question whether you will have any resolution in 120 days,” said Dick Monfort, the commission’s chairman, before the extension was approved.

State economic development officials established an initial 120-day timeline to motivate recipients of RTA awards to move forward with projects rather than sit on them.

But that timeline isn’t a statutory requirement, said Kathy Green,a spokeswoman with the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

The state incentives are on top of $300 million in support Aurora agreed to provide to Gaylord, which argued the incentives were necessary to build one of the largest non-casino hotels in the country.

But by the end of May, Gaylord shifted course and announced a $210 million deal with Marriott to manage its properties. The company also said it would convert to a real estate investment trust, a structure that greatly limits its ability to finance and develop large-scale projects.

“We will use the coming months to examine how the project can be completed with minimum financial commitment by our company through the development phase,” Gaylord chief executive Colin Reed said in early August.

Aldo Svaldi has worked at The Denver Post since 2000. His coverage areas have included residential real estate, economic development and the Colorado economy. He's also worked for Financial Times Energy, the Denver Business Journal and Arab News.

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